There are many applications in furniture, cabinetry and case work joinery in which a pocket mortise is employed to form a joint between two workpieces. Thus, in ready-to-assemble or knock-down furniture and in connection with joining together the elements of cabinets, cases, counters and the like, pocket mortises are employed to provide a high-strength joint which often can be hidden to provide desirable cosmetic effects.
When furniture or case work is being manufactured in volume, it is feasible and quite advantageous for pocket mortises to be formed using a production or shop tool of the type described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,719. The mortise pocket forming tool of my patent is readily adaptable (for example, by employing multiple heads) for use by manufacturers and/or job shops to produce pocket mortises of high-quality at relatively low cost. The pocket mortise forming apparatus of my patent, however, is somewhat specialized for the average carpenter, woodworker or do-it-yourself handyman to have available in their shop for the formation of only a few mortises in a few pieces of furniture or cabinetry. Thus, a carpenter or do-it-yourself woodworker is not likely to have a shop which would be sufficiently complete to have a pocket mortise forming apparatus as set forth in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,719. Moreover, even if such an apparatus is in the shop of a carpenter, it will not be readily available for on-site use when small projects are involved.
Nevertheless, pocket mortises are highly advantageous structures that can be utilized with a variety of mortise inserts, as for example are set forth in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,627, to produce joints between structural members that have many desirable qualities. Thus, while pocket mortise joints are used in manufactured or production structures the lack of a practical hand tool or in-the-field way of precisely forming pocket mortises has limited their use by woodworkers in non-production settings.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hand tool which can be easily transported and used by a carpenter or woodworker to form high-quality, well-indexed pocket mortises for use in woodworking joinery applications.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pocket mortise forming hand tool and method which is suitable for use by relatively unskilled woodworkers to form a high-quality, screw mortise joint.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hand tool for forming a pocket mortise in a workpiece which is highly portable, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is easy to use.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a hand tool for formation of a pocket mortise which allows the woodworker to take advantage of a commonly owned woodworking hand tool, namely, the hand drill to thereby eliminate the need for integration of a drill into the hand tool.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a hand tool and method for forming a pocket mortise in a workpiece which requires minimal time to use, involves a minimum number of components, and produces a joint which is high in strength.
The pocket mortise forming hand tool and method of the present invention have other objects and features of advantage which will be apparent from the accompanying drawing and from the following description of the Best Mode Of Carrying Out The Invention.